Nigeria’s NELFUND better than US, UK education loan models – UNIBEN VC

By Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Professor Edoba Omoregie (SAN), on Monday said the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was the best thing to ever happen to the country’s education system, arguing that the loan scheme is better than the models run by countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Omoregie made this assertion in an interview with Vanguard, but, however, he said he was not impressed by the interest shown so far to access the fund.

He said NELFUND was unique in every aspect, including the process of accessing it, the provision of a moratorium before repayment starts, and the percentage to be deducted when the repayment starts, saying that it was almost like a grant for education.

He praised President Bola Tinubu for his quick response to the bill by signing the first one passed under President Muhammadu Buhari into law and then immediately repealing it and sending the present one as an executive bill that he said is student- and sponsors’friendly.

According to him, “NELFUND is like manna from heaven; that is the way I would describe it. It is one of the most significant public policy initiatives ever introduced into this country since independence. I have to commend President Ahmed Tinubu for what he has done. He signed the NELFUND bill. There was an initial version which was developed during the time of President Buhari, but it was never signed into law. To the credit of President Tinubu, he signed the first one into law, and then when he saw that there were some operational defects, he decided to repeal and then approach the parliament to enact a new one early 2024.”

Professor Omoregie, who said he was part of the technical crew involved in the review of that initial one, said there was a lot of pruning down to accommodate some of the fears of the former president that it almost totally diluted its core value. “They were talking about guarantees that people had to guarantee when they took the facility. They even limited the amount that was to be drawn to a certain amount; there was nothing like upkeep of all of those things. President Tinubu didn’t think it was good enough, and he had to bring a new version.

“I am sure even from outside the country now they will come and study sooner rather than later because, unlike many of the student loans that you have in America, the UK and all that, which makes them sceptical, this one is an interest-free loan. Maybe they should even use another word instead of calling it a loan. This is more like a grant; there is a moratorium that until you start working, nobody is going to bother you, and when you start working, nobody is going to ask you to pay with the bulk; rather, they would just take just a minute portion of your emolument. Everything will work out in such a way that you will not be burning out.”